Empire: Part II Chapter 11
Chapter 11: Out of the Frying Pan Everest, Guard, and Hercules run into a large Marine Admiral. The man quickly pulls out a giant hammer and attempts to slam it into Everest. However, the captain of the Everstar pirates stops the hammer with his bare hands. “It looks like my strength is rushing back to me,” Everest says, smiling. “It’s time to get rid of that pesky hammer of yours.” Everest opens up an air pocket and the hammer is sucked in without any trouble. The Admiral backs up in fear of Everest. “Sir, should we try to regroup with the others?” Guard asks, still prepared to fight. “Yes, I think that would be best. I’ll take care of this man.” Guard nods his head and both he and Hercules run toward the entrance once more. The admiral fires a sort of energy at Everest, catching him off guard. “So, you aren’t as weak as you come off.” “Every Marine that was stationed here has the ability to fend off pirates such as yourself, Lord Glorick,” The admiral says, smiling. “My name is Frederick Shorfire and I’ll be the one to stop you.” “Do you guys ever get as annoyed at the monologues as I do?” Everest charges up a condensed air ball and fires at Frederick, but the admiral dodges and fires another blast of light at Everest. The blast hits Everest in the chest, causing the Captain to fall to his knees. “What kind of trouble did I get myself into?” Inferno and Lilith President Norman and his convoy of ships have quickly caught up with Inferno. The lord quickly thinks of a plan and prepares to be boarded by the Marines. “Lilith, please jump off of this ship now. I want to confront the president all on my own,” Inferno says. “But, my lady, he’ll almost certainly execute you on sight,” Lilith says. “I need to stay here and protect you.” “This isn’t open for negotiation. Now, go! I’ll catch up with you very soon.” Lilith reluctantly jumps off of the ship and into the cold sea. The Marines board the ship and see Inferno standing on the deck, waiting for them. “Oh, hey there, sir! I took the ship so that the Everstar pirates wouldn’t be able to use it for an escape attempt.” “Like I’d ever believe that bullshit,” Norman says, pulling out a bat. The man smashes his bat into Inferno stomach, followed by an earth-shattering swing to the face. Inferno falls to the ground hard and blood pours from her forehead. “I’m sorry I didn’t confront you first, sir. I just had to…” Inferno is interrupted by another hit to the face, causing the floor to crack beneath her. “You made a huge mistake turning against me like that, Marine. Now, you’re going to die a slow and very painful death.” “Good, he thinks I’m only a Marine,” Inferno thinks. “My plan is working perfectly.” The Marines grab Inferno and chain her to a wall. “Are you prepared die, my clever girl?” Norman strokes Inferno’s cheek and smiles. “Have you ever heard the phrase ‘the pen is mightier than the sword’?” Inferno nods, unsure where Norman is going. “Well, let’s just find out if that’s a true statement.” Norman grabs a pen from his pocket and shoves it into Inferno’s right eye, blinding her. Inferno yells at the top of her lungs in pain, causing Lilith to look back at the ship as she swims away. “I hope you made the right choice, my lady,” Lilith thinks. Chris and Mel Chris breaks away from the hug and puts his hand on Mel’s chest. His hand begins to glow and Mel’s chest begins to feel overwhelmingly hot. She quickly steps back and surrounds herself in plasma. “You did that only to get close to me,” Mel says, angry at her adopted son. “You’re definitely not the boy I met two years ago.” “Things change, my dear mother,” Chris says, pulling out a broad sword. “I have no intention of letting you escape from this island. I will see to it personally that you are executed on schedule.” Guard and Hercules appear from behind and restrain Chris. However, the boy melts and escapes their grasp. “How can you want to kill your own mother?” Guard says, shocked at Chris’ drastic personality change. “She’s been looking for you since that day at Grand Tower!” “And I believe that she has,” Chris says. “However, I don’t plan on becoming part of the crew again. I believe in the ways of the new government and our leader. Together, we will make this world how it should be.” “How stupid can you be?” Mel asks, staring at the young Marine. “Have you forgotten that this government and the Norman family have tried killing you on multiple occasions? Yet, you think of your own family as your enemies.” “I am not blind, mother. I simply have different ways of achieving the same goals as you. Is that so bad?” Mel decides to attack Chris, seeing that her pleading isn’t getting her anywhere. She uses plasma fist, but Chris blocks it with his sword. He then cuts Mel’s arm as she jumps back, causing her power to be suppressed. “What did you just do to me…” Mel says, shocked at the power Chris holds. “Ah yes, the threaded sword, as we call it, has the power to suppress an individual’s powers. Isn’t it beautiful?” Hercules pulls out a double sided spear and decides to step into the fight. “So, you do plan on killing her after all,” Varenheim says. “Well then, you’ll just have to kill me first. I won’t allow any of the lords to be killed on this island!” “As admirable as that is, Lord Varenheim, I don’t think you stand a chance against me.” Chris slashes at Hercules, but he’s able to block it with his spear. “I will not go down so easily, my young friend. You’re going to have to work hard to kill me.” Erie and Tritus “Should we go ahead and step in, Erie?” Tritus asks, looking down on the prison. “No, we should give them more time,” Erie replies, looking through her binoculars. “None of them are in immediate danger quite yet.” “Just remember, they can’t be allowed to die here. It isn’t their time.” “Ah yes. Dead candidates are no good to us, now are they?”